A court in Kazakhstan has extended a ban on the Communist Party, one of the
only opposition groups with genuine nationwide support.

Gaziz Aldamzharov, leader of the Communist Party, told the Telegraph that the ban extension was illegal and that he would challenge it.

“They extended it by six months,” he said. “Today, April 26, was supposed to be the last day of our suspension but now we have another six months.”

A regional court in the north of the country ruled on Monday that a Communist Party official had broken the rules of an original six month suspension handed out in October because he had been quoted in a local newspaper.

Over the past few years in some parts of the former Soviet Union, Communist parties have enjoyed a surge in support as they pick up protest voters who want to register their disappointment with the ruling elite. In a parliamentary election in Russia last year, the Communist Party came second with over 19 per cent of the vote.

The Communist Party in Kazakhstan, though, had been suspended in October for colluding with the banned Alga! party, which has links to fugitive billionaire Mukhtar Ablyazov. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev views Ablyazov as probably his most powerful and dangerous enemy.

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At the time of the original suspension, the Communist Party said they believed the ban was politically motivated. They were not able to contest a parliamentary election held in January, which Mr Nazarbayev’s Nur Otan party won with 81 per cent of the vote.

Former Soviet Kazakhstan has grown rich over the past decade from its energy and mineral resources.

It has built a new capital city and western luxury cars compete for space with battered Soviet brands on the streets of the biggest city Almaty, but western observers have criticised the country for not making enough political reforms.

European vote monitors at the parliamentary election in January had said it had been unfair.

One of the points they highlighted was the ban on some political parties or activists, including the Communist Party, which they said had undermined the competitiveness of the election.